In February 2008, I began blogging at david-norman.blogspot.com. In the 10 years that have followed, the site has undergone multiple facelifts (some designs that are just a scootch better than a 1990s-styled geocities site) and a few domain changes. In 2011, when my family and I moved to Fort Worth in order to attend seminary, my posting schedule slowed to a crawl. Over the course of the last few months, however, I’ve been discussing the possibility of doing something new.

The question arose, then, do I continue this blog? Or is the new project worth a fresh start?

As the title of this post makes evident, I’ve opted to close this blog. The archive will continue to live on the dark recesses of internet obscurity (where perhaps it is best-suited).

For those who have followed my journey from Corpus Christi to Austin to Wichita to Fort Worth, please know how appreciative I am for you. I’ve gone back and read some of my old posts, and I can only imagine the level of personal affection you must have had for me in order to be so patient as to have read every one.

The Lord has been gracious and merciful. Perhaps the foolishness of some of my earlier posts, the lack of discernment, and the immaturity evident therein can serve to encourage someone that the Lord is patient and kind and will lead his children into a deeper relationship with him, “for he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:6, CSB).

Soon, I’ll be posting about a new project that I’m currently working behind the scenes to get ready for public view. I’m looking forward to sharing it with y’all.

“But now Christ is risen from the dead.” And since we are risen with Him, we are not dead in our sins. In his renewal from the dead, we are lifted forever from dark enfolding condemnation. They cannot bind a single fetter on us now. . . . Because the God of Peace has brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the Great Shepherd of the Sheep, all the flock folded in Him by faith, are safe. “They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of his hands.”

Preaching from the Minor Prophets is a daunting task. With a limited text before them, the preacher needs to be able to identify the historical setting of the author and book, as well as its place in redemptive history. Added to these tasks is the difficulty of finding the balance of prophetic language against sin and injustice with that of restoration and hope. The book of Micah presents these challenges and more.

Every now and again, I come across something in my reading that stands out to me. This morning I began laughing out loud as I read of Mrs. M. B. Ingalls, who has been described by some as “The Queen of Female Missionaries.”

Ingalls had traveled to the Rangoon Mission alongside her husband in 1851, but continued to answer God’s call to the ends of the earth more than forty years after his death in 1856.

One evening, as she taught the Bible in her bungalow, one of the local people entered and told her that the chief of a hostile tribe was coming with his warriors.

The door was opened, and a swarm of wild men, with flashing eyes, poured into the room. She alone was calm and self-possessed, receiving them kindly as if they were friends. They seemed for a moment subdued by her manner; and, as if by inspiration, she seized the opportunity to divert their attention by stories about America, telling them among other things of Colt’s revolver, laying her hand as she spoke, upon the pistol her lamented husband had presented her. The chief listened with scorn and incredulity pictured upon his face. Then, suddenly picking up a piece of paper, he stuck it upon the wall, and cried, “Shoot.” For a second her heart trembled; she did not know that the pistol was loaded, nor how to use it, for she had never fired one in her life. But again, sending to heaven a swift petition for help, she took aim and fired. The ball pierced the centre of the target. Instantly, as if shot, or perhaps expecting ball would follow ball, the wild natives rushed from the place, and the missionary widow and her frightened flock fell on their knees to render thanks to their Divine Protector.

As it turns out, sometimes the Divine Protector uses a firearm for his purposes. I’ll just leave that here.

Bobby Jamieson’s Going Public: Why Baptism Is Required for Church Membership is one of 9Marks’s most recent contributions to the ecclesiological discussion. 9Marks is committed to the restoration of ecclesiology in theological discussion, especially among Baptist churches, and Jamieson’s volume presents a welcome and cogent argument. Jamieson explains his task up front: “This whole book aims toward the conclusion that churches should require prospective members to be baptized—which is to say, baptized as believers—in order to join” (1).

Jamieson’s task is “a distinctly baptistic burden,” in that while Baptists are in agreement with believers from other denominations that baptism is “a necessary prerequisite to the Lord’s Supper and church membership,” they (Baptists and those Jamieson labels “baptistic,” referring to those who regard believer’s baptism as the only true baptism, even if not Baptist denominationally) maintain that paedobaptists have not been baptized biblically (8). As such, according to Jamieson, they should be excluded from participation in church membership and the Lord’s Supper. This position has been accused of being ungracious because paedobaptists do not declare those baptized by immersion upon profession of faith to be unbaptized, nor would paedobaptists bar them from participation in the Lord’s Supper. Indeed, Jamieson acknowledges that “Baptists draw a tighter line around church fellowship than anyone else” (31). The author is aware that his volume enters into a debate that has historical roots and contemporary ramifications.

Going Public is concerned with baptism, but more importantly, with the importance of baptism’s relationship regarding church membership. Jamieson traces baptism through the book of Acts and notes that baptism is “where faith goes public,” that is, “Baptism renders faith visible; it gives the believer, the church, and the world something to look at” (36, 41). Moreover, the author argues that “baptism is the initiating oath-sign of the new covenant, and this makes baptism necessary for church membership” (56). As such, baptism exists as the oath-sign, or declaration of faith, that witnesses that the baptized person is a believer and a participant in the kingdom of God. As baptism is the initial sign of faith, the Lord’s Supper is the perpetual sign—“a corporate, covenantal oath-sign” that “constitutes many Christians as one church” (110). Thus, one must first be baptized biblically before participating in the Lord’s Supper which exists as an “effective sign of the local church’s unity” (109).

Going Public could have been stronger had Jamieson spent more time developing the Christological nature of the church. The author spends considerable time building a definition of the church upon a covenantal foundation showing how the gathered believers covenanting together transitions a cluster into a congregation, but offers little discussion of the church existing as the body of Christ. This omission does not appear to be intentional and the argument of the book does not necessarily demand that side of the discussion, but any description of the church mandates that it be defined by more than social and political observations. It is not enough to state, “A church is born when gospel people form a gospel polity” (144). More is implied in Jamieson’s volume, but it remains in need of exploration.

Jamieson’s argument is well-constructed and written in such a way as to be accessible to a general audience. The topic is critical for every Baptist church to consider and this book provides a substantial and cogent presentation of the argument for restricting church membership and participation in the Lord’s Supper to those who have been baptized by immersion upon profession of faith. Ecclesiological confusion, according to Jamieson, stands as the reason so many discussions regarding church polity regress into accusations of acrimony and ungraciousness. Jamieson and 9Marks have contributed another strong volume demonstrating that ecclesiology is not a mere academic exercise, but rather, “church polity matters” (11).

In doctoral studies, it is easy to find oneself isolated in his study carrel, cut off from the outside world. Once he discerns that his specific research interest is shared by a group of persons that can be counted on one hand, the walls of his already diminutive study carrel begin closing in even tighter.

The past week served an unusually high number of obstacles in my preparation for a Latin proficiency exam—which is required for my advancement in the program. I traveled out-of-state for work, suffered an extremely painful gout flare up, and worked a conference all while battling painful kidney stones.

Upon mentioning these difficulties via social media, I was moved to tears by the generous outpouring of love and prayer from my friends and family. I cannot communicate how quickly the walls began to expand again and what had felt like an isolated small space became a room full of those encouraging me, cheering me on, and praying for me.

Your prayers were heard and your encouragement was felt. I managed to complete my exam without much pain in less than the allotted time.

While I have not received news of my grade, I am hopeful. While I am confident that I understood the material in large part, I am not at all certain that I met the minimum requirement of 85%.

Nonetheless, please know how much I appreciate our friendship and the encouragement you have offered me. My hope is that it does not terminate on me, but that I will, in-turn, be an encouragement to others along the way.

My prayer is that I can get some of these health issues under control. And while I remain hopeful that I will not have to take the exam again, don’t be surprised in the event that I am in need of your support, encouragement, and prayers again soon!

Thank you so much.

UPDATED 21 OCTOBER

I received word today that I managed to pass the exam! Thank you for your support and prayers.